Pouring spout



Unite 3,063,604 Patented Nov. 13, 1962 1 3,063,604 POURlNG SPOUT Charles Henry Malpas, Geelong, Victoria, Australia, as-

signor to American Flange & Manufacturing Co. Inc.,

New York, N.Y.

Filed Apr. 8, 1960, Ser. No. 20,905 3 Claims. (Cl. 222-525) This invention relates to a pouring spout for use with containers-such as gasoline and oil containers and the likeand it refers particularly to pouring spouts for use with tins or drums such as are customarily used for storing gasoline, kerosene, oil or other liquids.

In the past it has generally been the practice, in providing a pouring spout for fitment to a container such as a gasoline tin or drum, to provide a spout of such design as to be adapted to be screwed on to the neck of the drum after removal of the closure cap. It has also been proposed to provide a spout having at one end two spaced radially extending anchoring flanges so constructed that the spout may be inserted into the mouth of a container and detached therefrom at will, the circumferential channel-like space between the two flanges accommodating the edge of the container wall bordering the opening so that there is a fluid-tight seal.

However, such a spout may be subject to the disadvantage that the spout is a separate part which must be removed in order to fit the closure cap to the neck of the container and it may be misplaced or lost when not in position. Then, too, it is not always possible to seal the opening through the spout when it is not desired to pour liquid through the spout.

Another proposal is to provide a pouring spout attachable to a drum and having a closure for its outer end so that the spout is always in position and a sealing of the container is efiected by fitting a closure to the outer end of the spout. But with constructions such as this the spout takes up a considerable amount of room when a number of containers have to be packed together for storage or transport. In order to overcome that disadvantage several proposals have been made as for example to have the spout rotatable so that it may be turned inwardly relative to the surrounding edge of the top of the drum, and to provide a recess in the bottom of the drum so that when two such drums are stacked one above the other the in-turned spout at the top of the lower drum is accommodated in the recess in the bottom of the upper drum. Such a construction is satisfactory in certain respects-principally with containers of relatively small size, as below one pint in capacity-but is not satisfactory with containers such as four gallon drurns or tins.

It has also been suggested to provide a retractable spout in a container, with the spout fitting in retracted position when not required (when a closure cap may be fitted to the neck in which the spout is slidably mounted) and fitting in extended position when it is required to pour liquid from the container.

More recently it has been proposed to provide retractable pouring spouts capable of being moved to retracted, inoperative positions or extended, operative positions. Such a retractable spout has an external flange at its outer end-to prevent the spout being moved too far inwardly-and at its inner end an external flange to restrict the outward sliding movement of the spout, the portion immediately outwardly of that inner flange being made a neat sliding fit in the neck of a container. The main body portion of the spout is of smaller diameter so as to fit freely in the neck, which is of standard construction. The retractable spout may be engaged at its outer end with a closure which is initially an integral part of the container neck, being secured in position to the top of the container. In order to open the can it is necessary to cut around the top of the closure and then lift the closure and pouring spout.

In all of the previously-recited prior constructions it has been proposed to make pouring spouts to suit one particular size of container outlet opening, and no provision is made for variations in external size of the spouts as a result of the conditions of usage.

Pouring spouts as hitherto made and used in containers such as gasoline and kerosene cans or drums have been made the appropriate size to fit in the necks of the containers with which they are to be used, so that when the spouts are in the operative or extended position there will be an elfective seal between the inner end of the spout and the neck of the container and there will be very little likelihood of any leakage occurring at the location of the connection of the spout to the container. Obviously, that connection must be sufiiciently tight to prevent leakages and yet not so tight as to render unduly difiicult the fitting of the spout in the container neck, particularly in respect of retractable spouts which are adapted to be pushed inwardly of the container to an inoperative, retracted position or pulled outwardly to an operative, extended position. (It is in the 1atterextendedposition, in particular, that the spout has to be a neat, leakagepreventing lit in the container neck.)

In order that the spouts may be fitted into the container necks they are made of a flexible material-such as polyethylenewhich is capable of being readily moulded to shape. However, such material is affected to an extent by certain of the liquids with which the spouts are customarily usedparticularly kerosene-and the external sizes of the spouts are caused to 'vary. Polyethylene absorbs kerosene and when a pouring spout made of polyethylene is mounted in a container in which kerosene is placed then the material of the spout swells after a short time and as a result the seating at the inner end of the spout-which is to be engaged in substantially leakagefree fashion with the neck of the container-cannot be engaged properly with the container neck.

In the past it has been customary to provide two different sizes of pouring spout for each size of container opening or neckthus, for a 2" opening there would be two spout sizes, for a 1%" opening there would be two sizes, for a 1" opening there would be two sizes, and so on. This is obviously an undesirable practice in that it is necessary to duplicate the tooling, merchants have to carry stocks of two spouts instead of one for each size of opening, and there is always a likelihood of confusion between them such that in the selection of the appropriate spout a storeman may pick out a kerosene spout for use with a gasoline can-when there will be a loose connection between the spout and the container necko-r select a gasoline spout for use with a kerosene canwhen the spout will be too large to fit neatly in the neck of the container with the result that it will tend to buckle and lead to leakage. It is to be realized that the differences in size are not very great and if the spouts are made the same in all respects except for size they will look to be identical.

An important object of the invention, therefore, is to provide a construction of pouring spout for use with containers such as gasoline, oil or kerosene cans and which may be used with any of such liquids.

Another important object of the invention is to provide an improved construction of pouring spout which may be fitted to a tin, drum or other container (hereinafter referred to as a container) when such container has been filled ready for sale and which will not interfere with the application of the customary closure cap to the neck of the container.

Another object is to provide a pouring spout for fitment to a container and which may be moved to an inoperative position such that it does not take up any packing or storage space when the spout is not being used,

and which may be readily moved to operative position when it is desired to pour the liquid from the container. A further object of the invention is to devise a construction of pouring spout for a container which will also assist in sealing the container against leakage when a closure is fitted to the neck of the container. A still further object is to provide a pouring spout of simple design which will be relatively economical to manufacture and easy to lit in position. I

According to the invention there is provided, in or for a container having a neck fitting and a closure cap adapted to be fitted to the neck fitting, a spout adapted to be mounted slidably in the neck fitting in such manner that it may be pushed inwardly of the container to a retracted,

inoperative position and pulled outwardly of the neck fitting to an extended, operative position so as to constitute a pouring spout for the container. The spout is so made that when it is in operative or retracted position the closure cap of the container may be engaged with the neck, and it has at its outer end an external flange adapted to prevent the spout being pushed completely into the container. Also, it has in its inner end portion at least .two circumferential grooves each adapted to receive and releasably engage with the edge of said outlet opening, the inner groove being of greater circumferential size than the outer groove. 7

' It is preferred that the spout be flanged outwardly at its outerend in such manner asto constitute a sealing gasket for the closure cap, and a web may be formed across the outer end of the spout so as to constitute a closure and to restrict tampering with the contents of the container, the web being made relatively thin so that it may be broken when it is desired to pour gasoline from the container.

To provide the circumferential grooves at the inner end portion of the spout there are formed, at the inner end of the spout, three circumferential flanges having the grooves between them. These grooves, or external channels, are adapted to receive the internal edge of the outer end of the neck fitting of the container, when the spout is pulled outwardly to operative position, so as to effect a seal against leakage of liquid. The external flanges are preferably so shaped that each circumferential groove has an inner flat side and a concave'radially outwardly curved side, the inner side being normal or perpendicular to the center line of the spout and the curved side meeting the hat side.

, operative position with the closure cap screwed on the neck and- FIG. .3 showing'the spout in its extended or operative position; a i a FIG. 4 is a detail view on enlarged scale showing the manner in which the rolled edge of the neck fits into the external recess at the inner end of the spout; and

FIG. is a cross-section through the longitudinal axis of the spout illustrating a modified construction.

Referring initially to FIGS. 1 to 4, the spout depicted in these drawings has 'a body portion 5 of hollow, substantially cylindrical shape. and of such size as to be capable of fitting relatively freely in the neck 6 of a container indicated by the reference 7. As gasoline containers are made of different sizes-as for 1 gallon, 2 gallons, 4 gallons and 44 gallons-and as the neck fittings of such I containers are made of difierent sizesthe neck of a 4 gallon can being larger in diameter thanthe neck of a 1 gallon can-it is apparent that the spouts provided by this invention will have to be made of different sizes so as to suit the containers to which they are to be fitted. Thus, there will be one size of spout to suit a 4 gallon can and different sizes of spouts to suit other sizes of containers, and each spout will be made so that its body portion 5 fits freely within-the inturned outer end portion 8 of the neck 6 of the container to which it is to be fitted.

At the outer end of the body portion 5 is an external flange 8 adapted to rest upon the outer end of the neck 6 and to fit wihin the closure cap 9 which is customarily provided to screw on to the neck 6. Such caps 9 are customarily provided with gaskets so as to make an effective seal, when screwed tightly in position on the neck 6, but the provision of the external flange S renders a gasket unnecessary as the flange 8 serves the same purpose as a gasket.

The external surface of the inner end portion of the body 5 is tapered outwardly to form a circumferential flange it? of a diameter somewhat larger than the internal diameter of the inturned end 11 of the neck fitting 6. The inner side 12 of the flange 1! has a steeper angle of taper than the outer side of that flange. inwardly of the flange it is a second flange 13 having its outer side 14 substantially at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the spout, and its inner side is inclined or tapered at about the same angle as the inner side 12 of the first flange 11 A third flange 15 is formed at the inner end of the spout, the inner and outer sides of that flange being normal to the longitudinal axis of the spout.

The flanges 16 and 13 define an outer circumferential groove or channel 16, and the flanges i3 and 15 define an inner circumferential groove or channel 1'7. The diameter of thebase of the outer channel 16 is smaller than that of the base of the inner channel 17see FIG. 4-and the external diameter of the second flange 13 is greater than that of the first flange 10 but less than that of the third flange 15, all three flanges being of such external size that they \vili not normally fit through the inturned outer end portion 11 of the neck fitting 6. The diameter of the base of the inner channel 17 is substantially the same as, or very slightly greater than, the internal di- 6 will then be a tight fit in the channel 16.

Eachof the external channels 16, 17 is adapted to accommodate the rolled-in outer end portion 11-as illustrated in FIG. 4-when the spout is pulled outwardly to its operative position as shown in FIG. 3. However, as the channel 16 is smaller in diameter than the channel 17, and as the inner channel 17 is of such diameter as to provide for a tight fit between the part 11 and the inner end of the spout it is apparent that the neck part 11 will fit loosely in the outer channel 16 when the spout is in its manufactured condition-not swollen by the action of any liquid.

The channel 16 is made smaller in diameter than the channel 17 to such an extent that when the spout swells under the action of any liquid-as by. reason of the absorption of kerosene when the spout is made of polyethylene-the diameter of the channel 16 in its swollen condition will be such that the inturned end 11 of the neck 6 will then be a tight fit in the channel 16.

The outer side of the first flange 10 is tapered to facilitate the outward movement of the spout relative to the neck of the container, and the outer sides of the second and third flanges 13 and 15 are made normal to the longitudinal axis of the spout to constitute stops, so that the spout will tend to snap into its correct extended position.

In pulling the spout outwardly, when it is used in conjunction with a container having a liquidsuch as gasoline-which does not tendto swell the material of the spout, the spout will not be held firmly in position when the inturned neck part 11 is engaged in the outer channel 16 and the spout may be pulled out a small distance further to a firmly-held position, when the part 11 is engaged in the inner channel 17.

Referring now to FIG. 5 it will be noted that the spout illustrated in that figure of the drawings is substantially the same as the spout depicted in FIGS. 1 to 4 but it has, in addition to the previously-described features of construction, an inward projection 18, somewhat like a dimple from the outer side, near its outer end. This in- Ward projection 18 constitutes a finger piece by means of which the spout may be conveniently pulled outwardly when required. Also, the outer end of the body portion 5 is formed with a thin web or wall 19 which extends completely across the outer end of the body so as to provide an efiective seal against the flow of liquid through the spout. When it is desired to pour liquid from a container to which the spout is fitted it is first necessary to break or cut away the web 19 so that the outer end of the spout is open.

The spout is preferably made of polyethylene or other suitably flexible or resilient plastic material which will not be atfected-otherwise than swellingby the contents of the container to which it is to be fitted. It is preferred that the material be of such flexibility that the spout may be deformed to enable the inner end thereof to be fitted into the neck 6 and yet be sufiiciently rigid to fulfill the function of a pouring spout.

As stated above, the flanges 10, 13 and at the inner end are larger than the internal diameter of the inturned part 11 of the neck 6. The spout is fitted into the neck -6 by deforming the inner end portion-partly collapsing the tubular member-so that the efiective size of the inner end portion is reduced and capable of being fitted into the neck 6. The spout is then moved slidably inwards to the position illustrated by FIG. 2, with the flange 8 at its outer end resting against the end of the neck, and the cap 9 is engaged on the neck so as to seal the outlet of the container against leakage of liquid. As the outer external flange 8 acts as a gasket within the cap 9 there is provided an efiective seal to prevent leakage of the liquid contents of the container.

When it is desired to pour liquid from the container the cap 9 is removed and the spout is pulled outwardly so that the body 5 moves slidably in the neck 6 until the rolled-in outer end portion 11 of said neck engages in the appropriate external recess or channel 16 or 17 at the inner end of the spout. Said spout is then held firmly in position relative to the neck 6, and liquid may be conveniently poured from the container.

By reason of the tight engagement of the neck portion 11 in the appropriate external channel 16 or 17 there will be effected a substantially leakage-free connection between the spout and the container.

When the pouring operation has been completed, the spout may be pushed inwardly to its retracted position and the closure cap re-engaged on the neck 6 to seal the outlet from the container.

The spout provided by this invention may be made straightas shown-or curved and it may be made any desired cross-sectional shape-it being borne in mind that a seal must be efiected in both retracted and extended positions. The body 5 may be made with parallel walls (cylindrical) or with slightly tapering walls, and it may be made so that it can be rotated relative to the neck 6 when in outwardly extended position or it may be made so as to be non-rotatable. The neck fitting 6 and the closure cap 9-which are not part of this invention-may be of any suitable design and construction provided the design is such that the spout will engage tightly with the neck in leakage-preventing manner in both extended and retracted positions.

What I claim is:

1. A pouring spout of flexible plastic material for an outlet of a container and adapted to be used in contact with different liquids producing varying degrees of swelling in the plastic spout, said spout comprising an elongated hollow member adapted for longitudinal slidable movement relatively to such container outlet from an inwardly retracted inoperative position to an outwardly extended operative position, said elongated hollow member having at its outer end an external flange adapted to prevent movement of the spout completely through the outlet into the container, and further having at its inner end at least two longitudinally spaced circumferential grooves each adapted to receive and releasably engage the edge of such outlet opening, each groove comprising a flat side perpendicularly disposed to the center line of the spout and a concave radially outwardly curved side meeting said flat side, one circumferential groove having a greater circumference than the other groove, said grooves defining circumferentially disposed ridges on the spout therebetween and on the inner and outer sides of each groove, said ridges increasing in diameter in a direction toward said inner end of the spout, whereby one groove is always available to effect a desired tight engagement with such outlet opening regardless of the state of swelling of the spout due to contact with such liquids over a period of use.

2. A pouring spout as claimed in claim 1 wherein said flexible plastic material is polyethylene.

3. In combination: a container having an outlet opening, a spout of flexible plastic material slidably mounted within such opening, said material being adapted for use in contact with diiferent liquids producing varying degrees of swelling, stop means on the outer end of the spout with respect to said container to prevent movement of the spout through the opening and into the container, three radially-extending axially-spaced ridges adjacent the inner end of the spout, said ridges having increasing diameters in a direction toward that end of the spout and defining two external peripheral channels, the outer sides of the two largest ridges forming part of a channel and being substantially normal to the longitudinal center line of the spout, the outer side of the smallest ridge tapering toward the outer end of the spout, the inner sides of the two largest ridges curving radially inwardly and meeting one of said substantially normal sides, whereby one channel is always available to effect a desired tight engagement with such outlet opening regardless of the state of swelling of the spout due to contact with different liquids over a period of use.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,393,331 Wilson Oct. 11, 1921 FOREIGN PATENTS 168,031 Australia Aug. 16, 1956 839,907 Germany May 26, 1952 

